Stop pretending to be smart

Early this morning I woke up with Li Mu Bai on my brain. I've been thinking about the start of another year of Extreme Blue. After six years of leadership in the program, what's the best advice I have to offer? What's the secret of success for top students in their final year of undergrad or an MBA, now drawn into the challenge of collaborating intensely for three short months to build the business case and prototype the technology for a real emerging business opportunity?

"True sharpness comes without effort."

– Li Mu Bai, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Those who strive for academic success and are accustomed to achieving it are doubly vulnerable to a debilitating worldview that arises when our focus shifts from measuring what is valued (success) to valuing the measure itself (marks). Our identity and self worth become contingent on consistently getting things right.

Now imagine what happens when you put someone like that on a team of stars working on a challenging problem. Or as is often the case, imagine what happens when every team member is to some extent like that. It becomes a zero-sum game for all of them. They have to be right, they have to defend their own ideas, and they aren't even sure why it matters to them so much.

It took fifteen years or so of fulltime employment for me to start to realize that my way of striving for excellence in all things actually means pushing hard as if my reputation is at stake in every moment, being continually concerned about how I am being evaluated, and just generally seeing each apparent misstep in thought and action as a mark deducted from my life score, a potential dip in my awesomeness stock, an event to be prevented at all costs. Somewhat exaggerated, but you get the picture.

On the other hand, I've also learned that when I'm at my best, it's because I've abandoned all concern over how my contributions will be evaluated. Instead, I'm caught up in the sheer delight of attacking a tough problem as part of a team, and giving it everything I have.

"Stop trying to hit me, and hit me."

– Morpheus, The Matrix

When we stop listening to that infernal internal commentary on our efforts—when we stop "trying" to be smart—we are free to be our best. Truly smart. Really sharp. To know ourselves and to be fully us, fully alive in community, contributing whatever we have, embracing every opportunity to learn, taking risks and living the adventure.

True sharpness comes without effort.

"Life isn't as serious as my mind makes it out to be."

– Eckhart Tolle

If we view our preoccupation with our reputation as one more deficiency that puts our awesomeness at risk, we're still caught. We can't force our way out of the trap. Like an obsessive compulsive trying to obsess our way out of our obsession, our stuggles only tighten our bonds.

The irony (as I carefully massage this text in the middle of the night) is not lost on me. Better to simply notice, laugh, and move on.

Evaluating change

The extent to which we resist or embrace change often depends on the evidence we'll consider. Compare the pros of the existing situation to the cons of the change and your support for the status quo is assured. Weigh the expected benefits of change against the flaws of the existing system and your enthusiasm for change is inevitable.

"Conservative, n. A statesman enamored of existing evils, as opposed to a Liberal, who wants to replace them with others."

- Ambrose Bierce

If we chose A over B, is it because we mostly compared the pros of A against the cons of B?

When people put forward their best efforts to evaluate options, they may be unaware of the biases they introduce by their optimism or pessimism towards change, or by their preference for or distrust of the hypothetical versus the real. Encouraging everyone to fairly consider all the evidence can help.

As a believer in continual improvement, I tend to favour a change before it has even been defined. What are your biases for evaluating change?

It's funny how creative we can be

The freedom to have fun and be foolish makes creativity possible. In difficult circumstances, I've been inspired most by leaders who didn't take themselves too seriously. They encouraged us to laugh at ourselves and to find the humour in the challenges we faced.

Humour doesn't work in every situation, as one of my favourite Dilbert examples illustrates.

Manager: "Knock! knock!"
Employee: "Who's there?"
Manager: "Not you anymore."

Or maybe it does, depending on your sense of humour.

Humour is a powerful ingredient in problem solving because it is strongly associated with seeing things differently. We relax, reconnect and gain fresh perspective. Most brains seem to enjoy clever (or dumb) surprises, which catalyze further creativity, or at least a few groans.

A horse walks into a bar. Bartender says, "Why the long face?"

If we're serious about creativity, we should humour each other. Often the best way to tackle a tough problem is to start by generating a bunch of dumb ideas.

Choose to fail

Back in October of 2008, I participated in a leadership workshop that transformed my thinking about failure.

"If you are willing to take risks, then you will fail."

– Dr. Henry Wildeboer

That statement was like a slap in the face to someone who wants to take risks and expects to succeed every time. Intermittent failure is a natural and acceptable consequence of daring and creativity. Slap! What kind of risks are you really taking if there is no chance of failure?

We don't do things hoping to fail. But, how often do we approach new challenges like novices determined to learn figure skating jumps without ever falling. Our crouching caution looks quite comical. It cannot save us from falls, but it can exclude us from excellence.

Am I prepared to experience failure as a leader? Do I accept leaders who fail? Or is failure "not an option," either for them or for me?

Getting started

I've been thinking about starting this blog for years now, even though I know better.

"We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action."

– Frank Tibolt

Today I got started, and that's all it took. I have as much trouble as anyone else at taking good advice.